


Absolute Beginners

by ReneeMontoya



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-05
Updated: 2015-02-15
Packaged: 2018-03-05 13:32:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 15,706
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3122048
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReneeMontoya/pseuds/ReneeMontoya
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Asami isn't particularly proud of it, she has a hard time even admitting it to herself, but she might have a tiny bit of a crush on the girl she's been mentoring. She's invited Korra round to do some studying. But needless to say, not a lot of studying gets done. And that's just the beginning.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“Shit!”

Asami rolled out of bed, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. She checked her alarm clock in disbelief.

“Shit,” she hissed again, “Fucking shit!” She’d only wanted to rest her eyes for a minute. That was four hours ago! It was her own fault, she told herself as she drew a strand of hair out of her mouth. She’d been up until four in the morning working on her engineering coursework and she hadn’t managed to get her daily (some would say _hourly_ ) dose of caffeine.

She’d told Korra to arrive at 5 pm. She checked the time again. She had less than ten minutes before the girl she was mentoring was supposed to arrive. And her room was a mess!

_Did I do my teeth this morning?_

She pulled her thick curls into a loose bun and picked a shirt up off the floor. She gave it a sniff, shrugged, decided it was tolerable and pulled it on over her creased t-shirt. She bounced around the room picking up the socks and skirts and underwear that were scattered everywhere.

Asami hated tidying up. She was always far too busy on her work to worry about such inconsequential things as cleaning and tidying and sleeping and cooking. In fact, she’d spent the last few semesters surviving almost entirely on instant noodles and coffee from the campus café.

 _How could my room get this messy when I just sit at my desk all day!? s_ he thought as she kicked empty cereal boxes under the bed.

With only five minutes left, Asami’s room was beginning to look respectable, or at least habitable. The piles of drawings and diagrams had vanished into a draw; the dirty dishes and food wrappers that usually filled her room were hidden away in the kitchen; and most importantly, her anime and manga collection was hidden away on a shelf where Korra couldn’t make fun of it.

Her floor was still littered with clothes and books and magazines. Asami hadn’t passed a room inspection the whole time she’d lived there but for some reason she was making extra-specially sure that her room was presentable for Korra.

Korra had arrived that semester at Republic City College on a sports scholarship. She was a few years younger than Asami and she was … well, she was _Korra_. She was bubbly and fun and a royal pain in the arse.

She was a natural athlete and a formidable martial artist. She had the determination and dedication - that fire in her azure eyes - that showed just how passionate she was about everything. Everything except her academic studies. Her grades in Maths and Science were slipping and her performance in the humanities was abysmal. Tenzin had told Asami that his only choice was to arrange some one-on-one tutoring for Korra. Asami had agreed to help Korra in her studies though she’d been less than enthusiastic about the prospect of spending hours on end with some asshole jock who didn’t give a shit about anything that didn't involve kicking a ball across a muddy field. Korra had been less than enthusiastic about spending hours on end stuck in the library with a “nerdy, stuck-up, rich girl” like Asami. And she’d made her feelings very vocal.

They’d spent their first study session together in the library doing some basic algebra. Asami had been trying to explain the solutions to some mathematics problems to her reluctant student but Korra had insisted on swinging on her chair and balancing her pencil on her lip like a moustache. She was worse than a five year old.

That study session had ended when Korra stole Asami’s glasses, put them on, and did an absolutely terrible impression of her, batting her eyelids and trying to make innocent bystanders swoon while babbling about maths. Asami had wanted to be mad at her but she'd just looked so hilarious. She had tried and failed to supress her laughter and they both ended up getting kicked out of the library.

From then on, Asami had looked forward to their weekly study sessions. Since the library was no longer an option they’d done most of their studying in the coffee shop on campus or in empty class rooms. But last week Asami invited Korra over to her flat to study. She wasn’t sure why she’d offered, part of her was certain Korra wouldn’t even accept the invitation, but against all the odds, she had.

She prayed that Korra would be late.

About 30 seconds before Korra was supposed to arrive Asami had finished tidying the rubbish tip she called a bedroom. She stood with a hand on her hip and sighed with relief, scanning the floor for anything she may have missed. She ran her fingers through her hair and relaxed. Everything looked okay, but she was painfully aware of her incredibly low standards.

Waiting eagerly for Korra to arrive, butterflies churning in her stomach, she touched up her already perfect makeup in front of the bathroom mirror.

“Hey, Korra,” she said to her reflection. “ _Heeey_ , Korra.” She screwed up her face in frustration and tried again. “Hi, Korra!” _No too happy. Gotta be more relaxed. More natural. Oh my god! How do I normally say it?!_

A knock at the door made her jump and she almost got scarlet lipstick in her eye.

_Shitshitshitshit._

_She’s here, she’s here, don’t panic. I am calm. I am the definition of calm. The only thing greater than my calm is my…_

Asami opened the door and the sight of Korra in her gym clothes made her mind shut down.

Korra’s dark skin was glistening with sweat, her blue tank top and baggy shorts showing off those muscular arms and the thighs that looked like they could crush a man’s skull. Korra had recently gotten her hair cut and it was now just above her shoulders and she was constantly flicking it out of her eyes.

“Hey, babe!” Korra said, her crooked smile spreading across her face.

_Babe?_

“Hey, Korra,” Asami said, leaning against the door, exhaustion from her panic fuelled cleaning seeping through her body. “You look, um, y’know …” Asami gestured vaguely at Korra’s body, “… amazing.”

_Goddammit Asami._

“Ha, thanks.” Asami liked to think Korra blushed then but she couldn’t tell for sure. “Oh yeah, almost forgot. I got you this.” Korra handed Asami a large, steaming take-out cup of coffee. “Well, I didn’t exactly get it, Ikki was waiting for me outside the gym with it and said to give it to you. I think she’s trying to set us up!”

Ikki was one of Tenzin’s many children and the young girl had taken an immediate interest in Korra and Asami. She was often on campus with her dad and the rest of her siblings and she would spend the entire day following the two of them around. She seemed to be taking an almost obsessive interest in their love lives and, now that Asami thought about it, it had been Ikki who had suggested inviting Korra round for studying.

_I am going to kill Ikki!_

Asami laughed and took the coffee gratefully, their fingers brushing fleetingly. She looked at her feet to try and hide her blush which was when she noticed Korra’s ridiculous rainbow legwarmers. She rolled her eyes and moved a stray strand of hair out of her face nervously.

“Oh my god! Your place is a mess!” Korra said, looking over Asami’s shoulder in mock disbelief.

_Oh god what did I miss?!_

“I’m just kidding!” Korra laughed, elbowing her in the ribs. “I knew you’d be a neat-freak.”

Korra had soon kicked off her trainers and stretched out on Asami’s unmade bed. Asami took a sip of coffee and felt the life returning to her.

“So, I thought we could start with going over some of the more complex formulae from the … are you okay?”

Korra was sitting with her knees tucked under her chin and was rubbing her arms, her teeth chattering like a cartoon skeleton.

“Your room is _freezing_!” Korra whined.

Asami laughed and dug a jumper out of the wardrobe she’d shoved all her clothes in and threw it at Korra’s face.

“Here, but it’s not that cold, you just insist on wearing shorts and tank tops all the time.”

Korra snorted and pulled the jumper on.

“It’s fashion, Asami. You wouldn’t understand!” she said jokingly. The jumper was far too big for Korra, the sleeves were tight around her bulging biceps but drooped over her hands and the whole thing came down almost to her knees. Korra nestled down inside it, pulling the sleeves over her hands and wiggling them like tentacles.

_Just like a 5 year old._

“So, yeah, I thought we’d start with the formulae we were working on last week and then we could either do some of the … what is it now?”

Korra was looking up at Asami like a guilty puppy.

“Well, y’see, I kinda accidentally left my bag at the gym and all my books were still at home anyway so it wouldn’t have made any difference if I had remembered it.” She smiled her crooked grin and ran her droopy woollen hand through her hair. “ _Sorry_.”

Asami sighed and drained the last of the coffee.

“I give up.” Asami almost dropped her paper coffee cup on the floor but remembered she had company and threw it into the bin. “So, what do you wanna do then?”

Korra jumped up eagerly, her blue eyes shining with excitement as she threw her arms into the air. “MAKEOVER!”

“Really?”

“Yeah, why not?” Korra’s smile faded slightly. “I dunno, you always look so snazzy and I look like something Naga’s dragged through a bush.”

“That is _not_ true!” Asami said vehemently. Korra shrugged and folded her arms. Asami ran to the bathroom and came back with her arms filled with makeup which she dumped on the bed and jumped down next to Korra.

Asami smiled as Korra began searching through the mess looking for colours she liked.

Half an hour later, Korra was lying on her back admiring her almost dry blue nail varnish and her bright red lipstick in the reflection of Asami’s iPod. Asami was sitting cross legged with Korra’s feet in her lap. Korra scrolled through the iPod while Asami painted Korra’s toes a dark shade of blue.

Asami chewed her bottom lip in concentration. Korra sighed and put the iPod down on the crumpled bed covers.

“You have such shit taste in music!” Korra laughed, nudging Asami with her foot. “It’s nearly all David Bowie!”

“I have excellent taste in music! Bowie is fucking incredible. And be careful or else I’ll have no other choice but to cover your entire foot in blue nail varnish!”

“Yes, Miss Sato. Sorry, Miss Sato,” Korra giggled. “Are you going to Mako’s party tonight?” Asami thought it was cute how suddenly her face became serious like that.

Asami grunted half-heartedly. “I dunno. Probably not. It’s been kinda awkward between us since we broke up. Have you found an eye-shadow you wanna …?”

“You dated _Mako_?!” Korra sat up, propping herself up on her elbows.

“Yes. Contrary to popular belief I do go out and socialise. I occasionally date too.”

“Nonono, I didn’t mean it like that. You’re so pretty and fun and smart it’s just … he’s kinda dull.”

Asami laughed so hard she snorted. She wiped her eyes and managed to get her breath back.

“Oh, you have no idea!”

“I was thinking of going to his party.” Korra lay back down and blew a strand of hair out of her eyes. “But I was only gonna go if you were going.” Korra played with one of Asami’s stuffed animals absentmindedly while Asami finished painting her toenails. “I’ve never been to a party or gone out drinking or anything. I’ve always been so busy training and stuff, y’know. I thought maybe we could go together?”

Asami put the lid back on the varnish and made herself more comfortable under Korra’s feet.

“You’re not really missing much.” Asami gestured to the wall behind her,” Bolin has the room next to mine so he’ll probably tell us all about it tomorrow whether we want him to or not.”

“Mako’s brother is next door to you?!” A mischievous grin spread across Korra’s face.

“Oh no! Korra, what are you gonna do?!” Asami pleaded with Korra but it was no use.

Korra threw her head back against the pillows and let out the loudest scream Asami had ever heard.

She could’ve sworn she heard someone fall out of bed next door.

Korra screamed again, her fingers coiling in Asami’s bed sheets.

“OH ASAMI! FUCK! YEEEES!”

“Korra!”

“OH MY GOD, YES! FUCK!” Korra let out another ear-piercing moan. “YES, JUST LIKE THAT! FUCK ME ASAMI! OOOOOOOOH GOD!”

Asami lunged at Korra and tried to cover her mouth with her hand, smudging Korra’s lipstick in the process, but it was no use. Korra grabbed her wrist and rolled Asami onto her back and screamed again, though this time it was almost a groan.

"DON’T STOP! OOH, ASAMI! YEEEEES! FUCK YES!"

Asami hit her with a teddy bear and hissed at her to shut up while barely containing her laughter.

Korra ignored her and carried on shouting.

“ASAMI! FUCK YES! YOU FEEL SO GOOD INSIDE ME! YOU’RE MAKING ME … I’M GONNA ...”

Asami managed to push Korra off her and grabbed a pillow and pressed it over Korra’s face. Korra’s screaming muffled, she started thumping on the wall with her fist and making the whole bed shake with her legs.

Korra’s stifled shouting finally turned into uncontrollable laughter beneath the pillow and Asami let her go. They collapsed onto the bed, breathing heavily and tears rolling down their cheeks from laughing so hard.

Korra rolled over to see the look on Asami’s face, biting her lip as she tried to stop laughing. Her brilliant blue eyes seemed to glow in the fading light.

_I am so gay._

Korra buried her face in the curve of Asami’s neck, sighing deeply as she got her breath back.

She could feel Korra’s hot breath on her skin and, without realising she was doing it, she reached out for Korra’s hand. Their fingers brushed and Asami’s heart leapt.

_So gay._

"At least I know you’re a screamer now," Asami chuckled breathlessly. “I am gonna murder you if Bolin heard that.”

Korra laughed and stood up on the bed, pushing her hair back out of her eyes, and pulling the sleeves of her jumper over her hands.

Asami stayed sprawled out on the bed, her hair spilling out of her bun and spreading across the pillows. Korra looked down at her and smiled.

“You look like a mermaid.” Asami almost had a coughing fit and she could feel her cheeks burning. “A really nerdy mermaid who needs to get laid,” Korra said as she looked through the mess on Asami’s shelves, that devilish grin flashing across her face again.

“I hate you so much.”

“No you don’t, you love me. How could you not? I’m adorable!” Korra turned her attention back to Asami’s shelves.

_If she sees all the nerdy shit I’ve hidden up there I’ll never hear the end of it!_

“Hey, umm, you know we could have our own thing tonight,” Asami said hurriedly.

“Huh?”

“Well, it seemed like you really wanted to go to Mako’s party.” Asami sat up and hugged her knees. “I dunno, I thought maybe we could raid the fridge and have our own little party. Just the two of us.” Korra’s eyes lit up at the last part and it wasn’t just Asami’s imagination. “Bolin has some beer in the fridge and I’m sure he won’t mind if we … borrowed it.”

“Really? That sounds great!”

“Just promise you won’t throw up on me if you have too much to drink.”

They found Bolin in the kitchen eating a bowl of cereal. He looked distinctly shell-shocked and gave the two girls a funny look. Asami realised that seeing them with their messy hair, smudged lipstick, and Korra wearing one of Asami’s jumpers probably made poor Bolin even more convinced they’d been up to no good.

And Korra didn’t make it any better by slapping Asami’s butt when Bolin said they could have his beer.

Asami blushed for what felt like the hundredth time that day. She was looking daggers at Korra who just smiled gleefully as Bolin scurried out of the kitchen, almost banging into the door as he left.

When he’d gone, Asami turned on Korra, her cheeks still burning red from embarrassment.

“Oh my god, Korra! He’s gonna tell everyone now!”

“Oh lighten up!” Korra opened the fridge and pulled out two six packs of beer. “One pack each?”

“I dunno, I think you’d better take it easy since it’s your … first … time …”

Korra had already drained one can before Asami had even finished talking.

Korra gagged and pulled a face somewhere between disgust and horror.

“Ugh, that’s horrible!”

Asami took a can from Korra which hissed when she opened it.

“Serves you right!” Asami collapsed onto the stained sofa and took a sip of the beer. “And just so you know, when you’re too weak to stand and you’re vomiting everywhere, I’m just gonna laugh at you and take pictures.”

“Deal!” Korra laughed as she started her next can.

Over the course of the next hour or two Korra and Asami danced on the kitchen counter to David Bowie, ate all of Bolin’s cereal, threatened to fight Bolin when he asked what happened to his cereal, planned a road trip across the country, and got so drunk that they called Mako five or six times to tell him they were a couple and that his eyebrows were ridiculous.

Sometime between her fourth and fifth beer Korra threw up over Asami’s jeans and after all the beer had run out they curled up together on the sofa. Korra was resting her head on Asami’s shoulder and trying her hardest not to be sick again.

Asami’s jeans were in the dishwasher and neither of them could remember where they’d put her iPod.

Korra looked up at Asami, her cheeks flushed from drink and her forehead creased in concentration as she tried her utmost to summon the willpower to have an intelligible conversation.

“’Sami,” she began, her speech slurred and her concentration wavering, “I jus’ wanted to tell you that …” She hiccupped and forgot what she was going to say. Asami laughed and brushed a lock of dark brown hair behind Korra's ear. “I jus’ wanna tell you that I …” Korra whispered, “I have a crush on Asami.” Korra held Asami’s face in her hands and looked earnestly into her eyes. “Don’t tell her I told you, okay?! Pinkie promise.”

It felt like Asami’s stomach was turning summersaults. And it wasn’t from the beer.

“I think you’ve had too much to drink.” Asami stood up, the floor moving slightly beneath her feet. She took Korra’s hand and pulled her up off the sofa. “Come on, let’s get you to bed.”

It took them over twenty minutes to find Asami’s room. Korra almost broke into Bolin’s room convinced that it was Asami’s and she threatened to make Tahno eat his stupid hair when he came out of his room to complain about the noise.

They eventually found their way back to Asami’s room and collapsed in an exhausted heap in bed.

*

Asami woke up with her head pounding. She groaned and pulled Korra closer.

_Wait, what?!_

She opened her eyes ever so slowly and almost had a heart attack. She stifled a scream of surprise and unwrapped her arms from around Korra who was still fast asleep.

_Oh my god! Did we …?_

Asami lifted the sheets tentatively and was met with the sight of her bare legs entangled with Korra’s.

_We did! We did the thing!_

This was not how Asami had imagined her first time with Korra! Not that she'd imagined having sex with Korra! ... Well, not much.

Asami rubbed her temples and tried to think.

_No … Korra threw up on my jeans. We didn’t do anything. I’m pretty sure we didn’t do anything._

She checked under the covers again. No, Korra still had her shorts on and Asami was sure only Korra was really wasted enough to do anything stupid last night.

Asami breathed a sigh of relief and sat up, propping herself up against her pillows. Korra stirred in her sleep, mumbling something inaudibly.

_She said she had a crush on me last night!_

Asami smiled happily, watching Korra sleeping peacefully.

Still asleep, Korra reached out her hand and put her arm around Asami’s waist. Asami gasped in shock as she felt Korra’s strong fingers run up underneath her top and glide across her skin. Korra’s eyes flickered open as her hand reached Asami’s bra. Their eyes met and simultaneously widened in surprise. Korra whipped her hand away, rolled over and fell out of bed, her arms and legs flailing like an overturned turtle.

“ _Owwwww,_ ” Korra groaned from the floor. Asami couldn’t help but laugh at the sight of Korra lying in a heap on the floor all tangled up in Asami’s bed sheets and swearing under her breath.

She scrambled to her feet and pulled a long strand of Asami’s hair out of her mouth.

“Blaurgh! I believe this is yours.” Korra crawled across the bed towards Asami, waving the wet string of hair at her.

Asami whacked her in the face with a pillow and Korra, ever the drama queen, collapsed into Asami’s lap. Korra smiled up at Asami, rubbing her eyes sleepily.

“Hey.”

“Hey.” Asami smiled down at her and brushed some of Korra’s messy hair out of her face. “You sleep well?”

“I did,” Korra smiled, “you’re a great cuddler.”

Asami blushed and ran her fingers through her mess of curls.

“Do you remember much of last night?” Asami asked. She wondered if Korra remembered or even meant what she’d said last night.

“Not much. I think I threw up at some point but it’s all kind of a blur. And my head is killing me!”

_I knew it. She’d just had too much to drink. I was kidding myself._

“You wanna get some pizza or something?” Asami asked.

“I would love that,” Korra groaned as she sat up, “but I think I’d better get going. Tenzin wants me to do a … ugh, I can’t even remember. Whatever it is, it’s gonna be hell!”

While Korra washed the taste of vomit and regret out of her mouth in the bathroom, Asami checked her texts. There were some pretty confusing ones from Mako but it was too early in the morning to try and work out why he was 'happy for her', whatever _that_ meant. Besides, she was far more interested in what Bolin had texted her last night.

“Hey,” Asami said through the bathroom door, “Bolin says that Wu had too much to drink last night and got all handsy with Mako!”

“That’s adorable. And hilarious!” Korra laughed, “No one’s gonna be gossiping about us now though.” She sounded almost disappointed. She came out of the bathroom, her hair wringing wet and droplets of water running down her face. “Well, this was _really_ fun.” She ran her fingers through her damp hair sheepishly. “You wanna maybe get coffee later?”

Asami’s heart leapt.

“Sure, I’ll call you.”

Korra made ready to leave.

“Cool … oh, you want this back?” she asked, tugging at the collar of Asami’s jumper.

“Nah, you can hang onto it. It looks cold this morning,” Asami said, holding the door open for Korra.

“Thanks.” Korra hovered in the doorway for a moment. She chewed her lip for a few seconds, glanced into the corridor quickly and, seeing that no one was around, bobbed up on her tiptoes and kissed Asami lightly on the cheek. “See ya, babe.”

Korra rushed off before she could see that Asami’s cheeks had turned a deep shade of red.

Asami was so flustered that she hadn’t noticed Bolin was standing outside his bedroom door in his undies, an idiotic grin on his face.

She almost screamed when she saw him.

"Looks like I owe Ikki a lot of money!" he laughed.

“Shut up!” she yelled at him, her cheeks turning even brighter as she vanished into her room. She slammed the door behind her and threw herself onto her bed with a sigh.

Her finger tips danced over her cheek, relishing the memory of the feeling of Korra’s soft lips on her flesh.

Asami smiled to herself and closed her eyes.

 _Just a little nap … just rest my eyes for ten minutes … s_ he thought as she drifted off to sleep, her fingers still brushing her cheek and the smell of Korra on her pillows filling her dreams.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Korra's crush on Asami has gotten worse and she's still completely oblivious to the fact that Asami feels the same way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wasn't going to do a second chapter for this but so many people asked for more (okay, like six people wanted more) so I decided to do another two chapters. This one's from Korra's perspective and the last one is from Asami's again.

_Just ask her out!_

The gym echoed with the dull thuds of Korra’s punches as she bombarded the punching bag over and over.

 _Just go over to her and tell her how you feel!_ she told herself, gritting her teeth as her knuckles met greasy canvas with that satisfying thud.

Korra grunted in frustration, shifting her weight on the balls of her feet before unleashing another blow.

_Don’t be such a baby!_

She flicked the hair out of her eyes and stole a quick glance over at Asami between punches.

Asami was sitting on a pile of yoga mats, a drawing pad in her lap and her bottom lip between her teeth in intense concentration. The floor around her was littered with charcoal pencils and screwed up pieces of paper. Every so often she would wipe her fingers on her jeans and push her glasses up the bridge of her nose.

Korra smiled in amusement as Asami’s dirty fingers left a trail of charcoal down the side of her nose. She’d tied her thick black hair back into a pony tail but a few strands had slipped down over her face. She was so intent on her drawing that she hadn’t noticed. Every fibre in Korra’s being was screaming at her to kneel down in front of her friend, tuck those defiant locks of hair behind her ears, run her thumb over her cheek, and kiss those scarlet lips that Asami always chewed when she was drawing.

Asami looked up at her and smiled. Korra realised she’d been staring and hurriedly turned her attention back to the swaying punching bag. She could feel her cheeks burning and hoped Asami wouldn’t be able to tell under all the sweat.

_Did she see me staring? She’s gonna think I’m such a dork._

Korra tried to drown out her thoughts by punching even harder and faster. The tape that covered her hands began to bite into her flesh and her arms were beginning to ache. Pushing through the pain and discomfort and shutting out the thoughts about Asami, Korra landed even more powerful blows on the heavy bag.

She could feel the sweat trickling down the back of her neck and her t-shirt was clinging to her body when she moved. Korra tried to focus on that instead of the fluttering in her stomach.

Korra had been getting that fluttering feeling a lot recently. She and Asami had been spending a lot of time together. In fact, over the last few weeks since she’d spent the night at Asami’s they’d barely gone a day without seeing each other.

Of course spending so much time together hadn’t helped Korra get over her ridiculous crush on Asami. And worse, it had made it even harder to convince everyone that they weren’t dating. The rumours had spread quickly after the drunk messages they left on Mako’s phone and Bolin seeing Korra give Asami that stupid kiss. They’d both fervently dismissed any rumours that they were dating but every time they had to tell someone that ‘no, we’re not going out, we’re just friends’, a little part of Korra felt like it was being torn in two.

Eventually, Korra’s arms couldn’t take any more and she gave the bag a final punch and took a step back. She was breathing heavily and she could feel the sweat running down her back. She glanced over at Asami again.

_Just ask her out! Just go over to her and say …_

But what would Korra say to her? She’d been trying for days to find the words and she still hadn’t found them. She walked over to Asami, unwinding the tape from her hands as she went.

_Asami, I really like you. Would you like to go out on a date with me?_

It sounded so easy in her head.

_What if she doesn’t like girls? What if she doesn’t like me?_

Korra picked her towel up off a rowing machine and draped it over her shoulders.

She clenched her fists and went for it.

“Asami, I …” she began, doing her best to sound confident and ignoring the swarm of butterflies in her stomach.

But Asami looked up at her with those green eyes that shimmered behind her glasses and Korra forgot what she was going to say.

Asami raised an eyebrow waiting for Korra to finish whatever she was going to say. Korra realised that she was just standing there staring with her mouth open.

_Crapcrapcrapcrap_

“I, uh, I really like … uh, your new jacket looks really good,” Korra managed to mumble, waving at Asami’s new maroon leather jacket. A nervous grin spread across Korra’s face.

“Thanks,” Asami smiled back.

“But it would look much better in a crumpled heap on my bedroom floor,” Korra said, winking and pointing finger guns at Asami.

Asami looked stunned and then blushed a deep shade of red. She laughed quietly and looked back down at her drawing pad.

_Crap! You made her uncomfortable. Change the subject!_

“What are you drawing?” she asked, cocking her head, trying to get a better view.

Asami bolted upright as if she’d been electrocuted. She slammed her drawing pad shut, and before Korra knew what had happened, it had vanished into Asami’s bag.

“Nothing!” Asami said as she scrambled to pick up all the pencils that had been scattered everywhere.

“You were drawing porn weren’t you?!” Korra laughed.

“I was _not_ drawing porn!” Asami protested as she shoved the last of her art supplies into her backpack.

“I dunno, Asami.” Korra said as she took her water bottle out of her bag, “That sounds like something someone who’s drawing porn would say.”

“Ugh, you’re such an idiot, Korra!” Asami growled, pretending to be mad. She got to her feet and pushed her hair out of her face making Korra almost choke on her water.

“Come on! Let me see your smutty art!” Korra spluttered.

Asami rolled her eyes and gave Korra a gentle shove.

Korra squeezed her bottle unleashing a jet of water all over Asami.

“Oh now you’re gonna get it!” Asami laughed, wringing the water out of her hair and taking off her glasses.

Korra squirted Asami with her water again and dropped into a fighting stance.

“Oh you wanna fight? Okay, Sato. Bring it!” Korra laughed.

“I have to warn you,” Asami said, unzipping her jacket and doing her best to look intimidating despite the huge grin on her face, “I’ve been taking self-defence classes since I was eleven!”

“Really? As if that’ll help,” Korra laughed, “I had to help you peel your banana this morning!”

Korra lunged at Asami. Before she knew what was happening, Asami had grabbed her by the wrist and, in a blur of motion, she’d spun around and rammed her elbow into Korra’s face.

She fell to the floor as blood began to spurt out of her nose. She was more confused than hurt but still, the pain was eye-watering.

It hadn’t dawned on Asami what had happened yet. She was still in a fighting stance, her arms up and her legs spread wide. Looking up at her, just one thought went through Korra’s mind.

_Marry me!_

“Aurgh! You twat-fuck!” was luckily all that came out as she clasped her hand to her bleeding nose and tried to sit up.

“Oh my god! Korra! I’m so sorry!” Asami cried out as she knelt down next to Korra, cradling her in her arms. “Are you okay?”

Korra could cope with the pain – it wasn’t the first time she’d been hit in the face and it would definitely not be the last time. But with Asami’s arms around her and her black hair cascading down on her, Korra realised she didn’t want this moment to end. Even if blood was gushing out of her nose.

She whimpered pathetically, praying that Asami wouldn’t realise she wasn’t too badly hurt and stop holding her.

Asami eventually unwound her arms from around Korra though she kept a firm grasp on her shoulders.

“I am so sorry, Korra!” Asami said again. She almost looked like she was going to cry.

Korra mumbled something from under her hand and shrugged. Asami delicately pried away the hand Korra had clamped over her bloody nose. With a finger under Korra’s chin, she tilted her head back so she could see the damage she’d done.

Korra hoped she’d bruise quickly so Asami couldn’t see that her cheeks were turning crimson.

“I’m not an expert,” Asami said, after gently checking Korra’s nose, “but I don’t think it’s broken.”

Korra smiled up at her.

“Better luck next time!” Korra laughed.

Asami helped her to her feet and draped a supporting arm around her shoulders.

“We should get you some ice anyway. It might swell up otherwise.” She hefted their bags onto her shoulder and led Korra out of the gym. “We’ll get some from the coffee shop and while we’re there I’ll buy you lunch to say sorry.”

Korra liked the sound of that.

*

The heating in ‘The Jasmine Dragon’ had been on the fritz for weeks now and it still hadn’t been fixed so it was no surprise that the coffee shop was practically empty when they got there. Korra noticed Bolin sitting at one of the tables in the corner playing a game on his phone, his coat zipped up to his nose. Bolin had started working at the coffee shop as a trainee barista and was clearly taking his new job very seriously.

Korra and Asami collapsed into the armchairs next to him. He looked up from his phone and smiled, clearly happy to see them. His smile faded when he noticed the congealed blood that had been streaming out of Korra’s nose and that was drying on her top.

“Oh my god, Korra! What happened?!” he screeched, jumping out of his seat. “Who did this to you?! Where is he?!”

Korra just laughed and put a calming hand on his shoulder.

“Relax, Bo! Asami and I just had a bit of an accident.”

Bolin looked at Asami and back at Korra. His big smile came back and he sank back down into his seat.

“Oooooh, I see. Trying something new, huh?” he laughed, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

“I swear if you make one more of those jokes I’m gonna smack you in the mouth!” Korra growled, though she had to try hard not to laugh.

“Oh, I like your new jacket, Asami,” Bolin said, clearly unphased by Korra’s threats of physical violence. “It’d look better on the floor next to Korra’s bed though!”

“Korra already made that joke,” Asami said rolling her eyes. Korra punched Bolin in the arm and could feel herself blushing when Asami smiled across the table at her.

“That’s because she’s super gay for you!” Bolin laughed, which earned him another punch.

Asami groaned, trying hard not to smile, and went to the counter to get Korra some ice and order their food.

Korra watched her go and when she was sure Asami was out of earshot she turned back to Bolin.

“Quick!” Korra whispered, pointing at Asami’s backpack. “Pass me her sketch pad.”

Bolin looked confused but ferreted through her bag and found the drawing pad. He passed it to Korra and moved his chair closer to see what Korra was up to.

Korra checked again that Asami wasn’t looking. The coast was clear so Korra flipped through the pages of complicated drawings and diagrams that filled the first few pages until she found the page she was looking for.

The smudged page was covered in charcoal sketches of a beautiful dark-skinned girl punching and kicking and stretching and flicking her hair out of her face. Her muscles were lovingly shaded and her short hair was billowing in the wind as sweat shone on her skin. Korra gasped when she realised what she was looking at.

_Oh my god! They’re me!_

Bolin leant in to see and burst out laughing, banging his knee on the table.

“Shush!” Korra hissed, thumping him in the ribs, but it was too late. Asami was already back, holding a dishcloth full of ice cubes in her hand.

“What are you laughing … _oh!_ ” Asami turned red and tried to snatch the drawing pad away from Korra but she was too slow. “I … I can explain!”

Korra did her best to look serious, swallowing her laughter and relishing Asami’s embarrassment.

_God she’s cute when she’s flustered._

“So this is what you didn’t want me to see,” Korra said, as she looked at the sketches with pretend disgust. “I knew you were drawing porn!”

“It’s not porn!” Asami said, sitting down next to Korra and avoiding eye contact. “I had to drop my life drawing classes a while ago and …”

“Yeah, then why is Korra naked in that one?” Bolin asked, pointing at a half-finished drawing in the corner and smudging it with his clumsy finger.

“I haven’t finished that one,” Asami hissed, looking knives at Bolin who was completely oblivious to her death-stare. “I just haven’t drawn the clothes yet!”

“Suuuuure,” Bolin said. He leant in close to Korra and whispered behind his hand just loud enough for Asami to hear: “She’s super gay for you.”

Asami kicked him under the table. Korra didn’t react, she was looking at Asami through her lashes and picturing her in some of the positions she’d drawn Korra.

Bolin took the pad off Korra so he could get a closer look and started chuckling to himself.

Korra reached out to take the improvised ice pack but to her surprise Asami gently brushed her hand aside. She pulled Korra’s face closer with a hand on her cheek. Pressing the ice to her bloody nose tenderly, Asami let her other hand drop to Korra’s knee.

A shiver ran through Korra though she wasn’t sure if it was because of the bitter cold on her injured nose or the feel of Asami’s hand on her leg that caused it.

Not knowing where to look, Korra’s gaze darted back and forth around the room, first to Bolin who was still laughing at the drawings, then at the handful of other customers, and eventually resting on Asami’s cold hand on her bare knee. The cold November air had turned Asami’s fingers purple. Screaming internally at herself not to do it, Korra slowly reached out her hand and placed it over Asami’s.

She felt Asami shift her hand slightly but neither of them took their hands away. Korra looked up and their eyes met.

Asami smiled at her before letting her eyes drop again, a slight blush creeping over her cheeks.

_I wanna kiss your stupid face._

Without taking her eyes off Asami’s, Korra took the ice pack from her, dropped it onto the table, and leant forward.

_Oh my god, what are you doing?! Stop!_

Bolin’s raucous laughter made Korra jerk backwards before she could embarrass herself. They both turned towards him, their hands falling to their sides.

“Oh my god!” Bolin laughed breathlessly, pointing at the drawing pad. “Look at how detailed that butt is!”

“Right, that’s quite enough.” Asami lunged across that table at him.

“No, but look at it!” Bolin carried on laughing, leaning back in his chair out of Asami’s reach. “Look how lovingly she shaded your butt cheeks, Korra!”

Korra burst out laughing when Asami kicked Bolin’s chair, upsetting his balance and sending him sprawling on the floor.

Asami grabbed her sketch pad back and hid it in her bag. Korra doubted anyone would ever see it again.

_She’ll probably burn it tonight._

Bolin was picking himself up off the floor and looking suspiciously sheepish.

“You alright, Bo?” Korra asked.

“Yeah,” Bolin rubbed the back of his head and shot shy glances across the coffee shop. Korra followed his line of vision and her gaze landed on a girl near the window with her nose buried in a book. Korra looked back and forth between Bolin and the girl as it gradually dawned on her.

_Bolin totally has the hots for her!_

An evil grin spread across Korra’s face.

Asami and Bolin saw Korra’s grin and knew exactly what that meant. Asami chuckled while Bolin just swallowed nervously.

“Hey! You!” Korra shouted across the café relishing the look of horror on Bolin’s face.

The girl looked up from her book and glanced around the room in confusion.

“Korra, please …” Bolin whispered to Korra pleadingly. “Don’t … don’t tell her that I like her! She’s so cool and … and … don’t blow this for me!”

Korra just grinned. After weeks of Bolin and the others (but mostly Bolin) teasing her and Asami she was about to get her revenge.

“Yeah, you! Cute girl in green!” Korra yelled even though the girl wasn’t that far away. “What’s your name?”

“O- Opal,” she mumbled shyly, clearly unsure what was happening. “Opal Beifong.”

“Hey, Opal. I’m Korra.” She shot a quick glance over at Bolin who looked like he was about to wet himself. Asami was grinning delightedly. “You’re really cute. You wanna go out for a movie or something some time?”

“Umm, okay. I mean, yeah, sure,” Opal said awkwardly.

Korra soaked in the look of utter devastation on Bolin’s face.

_Ha! He thought I was gonna tell her he … Wait! What?!_

Korra had been so caught up in torturing poor Bolin that she hadn’t considered what Opal would actually say.

_Crap! Abort abort abort!_

“So … do you want my number?” Opal asked, playing with her hair as a blush spread across her face.

“Umm, I … I wasn’t … I don’t …” Korra floundered. She wanted the earth to open up and swallow her. She looked imploringly at Asami.

“You seem really sweet, Opal,” Asami said, slipping an arm around Korra’s waist. “But this idiot’s taken. She’s just being an ass.”

Asami pulled Korra closer and planted a kiss on her cheek.

“Oh,” Opal said shyly, “okay.”

“Yeah, umm … sorry,” Korra murmured. She was pretty sure Asami’s kiss had made her forget how to speak. Asami leant her head on her shoulder and Korra tentatively wrapped her arm around Asami. Korra’s heart started racing.

“Bolin’s a lot less of an asshole. And he’s single!” Asami said winking at Opal. “Go talk to her, you fucking dork!” Asami hissed at Bolin.

Bolin shuffled over to Opal with his hands shoved into his coat pockets. They smiled awkwardly at each other and started talking nervously.

Asami nuzzled Korra’s neck and squeezed her under the ribs making her squirm.

“You’re welcome,” Asami whispered.

“ _Igottagetsomenapkinsforallthisblood!_ ” Korra jumped to her feet and ran off to the counter.

She grabbed a handful of napkins and began mopping up the blood from her face. Korra breathed a sigh of relief. Korra knew she was just pretending but having Asami draping herself over her was more than she could cope with. She resisted the urge to look over at Asami and instead busied herself filling her pockets with cutlery, ketchup, packets of sugar, and anything else she could get her hands on.

When she got back to their spot she emptied her pockets on the table. Asami gave her a funny look, arching her perfect eyebrows in confusion.

“What? I’m broke. And all this stuff is free so it’s technically not stealing,” Korra said, and sunk into the cracked leather of the armchair next to Asami. “Besides, the more cutlery I have, the less often I have to do washing up.”

“You really need … _twenty_ ketchup sachets?” Asami laughed.

“Hey, you never know!” Korra shrugged as she stretched her legs out and rested them in Asami’s lap.

Korra looked at her fingers and picked at her chipped blue nail vanish. Bolin was busy trying to flirt with Opal and Korra had Asami all to herself again. But now that they were alone, Korra couldn’t think of the right thing to say. ‘Asami, I think I love you and I want to kiss you all over and have your babies’ sounded a little too creepy no matter how many times she tried rephrasing it and no matter how badly she wanted to say it.

_Korra, for once in your life, don’t fuck up!_

She bit her tongue to make sure her big mouth didn’t embarrass her.

Korra kept her mouth shut until their food arrived. She poked at her salad, eyeing Asami’s fries jealously. While Asami was watching Bolin making a fool of himself in front of Opal, Korra swiped a handful of fries and wolfed them down.

“Did you just take some of my fries?” Asami asked, turning round suddenly. “You bitch!”

“Yup! They’re so good!” Korra said, taking another handful and humming happily. “Too bad I can’t eat them though.”

Asami sighed resignedly and slid the bowl across the table to Korra.

“You got another lecture today?” Korra asked through a mouthful of fries.

“Yeah,” Asami said wearily. “But the stuff we’re working on at the moment is fascinating! Some of the concepts my professor’s developing could change the face of engineering forever!”

Asami began telling Korra all about her course, waving her hands excitedly. Her burger was going cold but she didn’t even seem to notice. Korra listened intently, resting her chin in her hand. Admittedly most of the stuff Asami was talking about went completely over Korra’s head – pivots or valves or something, to be honest, Korra hadn’t a clue what she was talking about – but she loved how excited Asami got when she talked about engineering. She got this gleam in her eyes and her smile was so infectious and she couldn’t keep her hands still.

After twenty minutes or so, Asami stopped midway through her excited rambling.

“Sorry,” she laughed shyly, blushing and running her fingers through her hair, “I guess I got a bit carried away! Sorry for boring you.”

_You’ve never been more attractive than you are right now!_

Korra punched her in the arm and told her never to apologise for being a huge nerd.

“And, umm, you gonna eat that?” Korra asked, pointing at Asami’s untouched lunch.

“You can have it,” Asami laughed. Korra was sure that Asami hadn’t had anything except a banana and coffee today but the burger smelt so good and she’d had nothing but salad and protein shakes for months. She’d make sure Asami ate something later but right now this burger was hers!

Asami kicked her under the table as the door to the coffee shop swung open and a dishevelled looking Mako shuffled in, his shoulders hunched, his scarf wrapped tightly around his neck and dark rings under his eyes.

“Mako!” Korra yelled, grinning malevolently as Asami glared at her.

Korra swallowed the last of Asami’s lunch and waved him over.

Mako sat down beside them and grunted a half-hearted hello.

“What happened to your …?” Mako asked sleepily, gesturing at Korra’s nose.

“Oh, nothing. You should see the other guy!” Korra laughed, winking at Asami. “I thought you were shut in your room cramming for your law exam tomorrow.”

“I was!” Mako groaned, dragging his hand down his face. “But Wu wanted a coffee. Doesn’t seem to matter to him that I haven’t slept in almost forty hours and that my entire future is going to be decided by this exam!”

“So … is Wu staying over at your place then?” Korra asked innocently.

“What?! NO!” Mako said, sounding just a little too defensive. “That’s the worst part! Not … not that I want him to stay over or … he’s just so lazy! He can’t even get out of bed and get his own damn coffee!”

Korra and Asami looked at each other across the table, stifling laughs.

“Sounds like he’s got you pretty whipped!” Asami laughed.

“ _Funny!_ ” Mako grumbled. “Anyway, how are you two these days? Haven’t seen you in a while. I like your new j…”

“I swear to god, Mako!” Asami snapped at him. “If you say my jacket would look better on Korra’s floor I will break your damn wrist!”

“I – I wasn’t … I was just gonna …” Mako said, practically sinking into his seat.

“Awww, go easy on him, Asami!” Korra said. “The poor thing hasn’t slept in ages and he’s got a super high maintenance boyfriend!”

Mako opened his mouth to protest but decided he was too tired to argue.

“Sorry, Mako,” Asami said, ruffling his unkempt hair. “It can’t be easy studying law _and_ keeping Wu satisfied.”

“Oooh! Are we making fun of Mako now?!” Bolin shouted across the coffee shop.

“No, we’re not!” Mako grumbled “We’re leaving him alone and letting him have a nap.”

“What about Wu’s coffee?” Asami asked.

“He can wait!” Mako said, folding his arms and closing his eyes. “Besides, he’s always so fussy with his coffee order, I can’t even remember what he wanted.”

“Someone’s not getting any tonight!” Korra laughed.

Mako just growled without even opening his eyes.

“Well, as fun as it is tormenting Mako,” Asami said, getting out of her seat and grabbing her bags, “I’ve got to go to my lecture now.”

“I’ll walk you there, babe,” Korra said, getting up to follow Asami out. “Bye, Bo! Bye, Opal! See you later, Mako. Good luck with the exam.”

“And good luck with Wu!” Asami laughed.

“So,” Korra said as they left the bitter cold of ‘The Jasmine Dragon’ and plunged into the even harsher cold outside, “was it because he found out you’re a huge weeaboo?”

“What?” Asami asked, her arms clasped tightly around her chest to keep out the cold November wind.

“Did Mako break up with you because he realised you’re a weeaboo?” Korra asked, grinning at Asami.

Things weren’t too awkward between Mako and Asami anymore but Korra still had no idea why they’d broken up and she’d been teasing Asami about it for weeks, making up outlandish theories for their breakup when Asami refused to tell her what had happened.

Secretly she hoped it was because Asami liked girls.

“How … I’m … I’m Japanese! How can I be a weeaboo?” she asked, exasperatedly.

Korra just smiled broadly and shrugged.

Outside the lecture theatre, Asami pulled Korra into a tight hug making Korra’s heart tremble.

“Umm, you gonna go to your lecture now or … are you just gonna hug me all afternoon?” Korra asked. “Because I’m totally cool with that too.”

Asami let her go but left a hand on Korra’s shoulder. She smiled at Korra, letting her hand trail down her arm and rest gently on her bicep.

“I am still _so_ sorry about fucking up your face,” Asami said, the concern in her voice making Korra blush slightly.

“Nah, it’s okay,” Korra said, trying to ease Asami’s anxiety. “I’ve had worse.”

“Still …” Asami said, averting her eyes slightly. “Do you wanna hang out later? After my lecture? I was gonna start the second season of _House of Cards_ tonight.”

“Sure,” Korra said. “I’ll … see you in an hour then.”

“Yeah…” Asami said shyly.

They stood looking at each other awkwardly for a while before Korra realised that Asami’s hand had slid down her arm and her hand had slipped into hers.

_Crap! What do I do?! When did this happen? Did she mean to do this? Do I let go?_

Korra could feel her hand sweating and her cheeks burning. Before she could wet herself from panic, Asami gave her hand a squeeze and let go, vanishing into the crowd of half-asleep engineering students.

 _Dammit Asami,_ Korra thought to herself as she stood shell-shocked outside the lecture theatre. _Why do you have to do this to me?_

“I’m gonna do it!” Korra whispered under her breath. “I’m gonna ask her out!”

_How do I do it though?_

Korra wracked her brains. She needed some kinda of grand romantic gesture to sweep Asami off her feet.

She could get Asami chocolates but that felt a little too boring. Poems were pretty cute but Korra always felt so tongue-tied when she’d tried to tell Asami how she felt before.

_What do girls like?!_

Suddenly inspiration hit her.

“Ikki! Where the fuck is that little brat?”

Korra raced across the campus, knocking people into lockers and sending books and students flying. She prayed that Ikki had skived off school again today and come into college with her dad like she usually did.

She eventually found Ikki hidden in the corner of the art room with her little brother, covered in paint and glitter.

“Ikki!” Korra yelled breathlessly, shaking the girl by the shoulders. “Thank god you’re here! I need your help. I want to ask out Asami and …”

“ _You like Asaaami?!_ ” Meelo shrieked in disbelief, waving his paint brush wildly.

“Of course she likes her, Meelo!” Ikki said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “ _Everyone_ knows.”

Meelo’s eyes widened in surprise and he shook his head in confusion and turned back to his canvas.

“Look,” Korra said desperately, “I know you’ve been stalking us and trying to set us up for ages – you haven’t exactly been subtle about it!” Ikki shrugged. “I need to know what Asami’s favourite flower is! I’m gonna ask her out.”

“Well it’s about time,” Ikki sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose. “Hmm, flowers? Yeah, that’d work, I guess. Her favourite flowers are …” Ikki trailed off as she pulled a notebook out of her pocket. She flicked through her notes and eventually found what she was looking for. “Her favourite flowers are Cattleya Orchids.”

“ _Hey!_ ” Meelo yelled as Korra grabbed a pen from him and scrawled the name of the orchid on the back of her hand.

“Thank you so much, Ikki!” Korra said, kissing her forehead. “I’m not even gonna ask how you knew that!” she said as she raced out of the art room.

*

Korra stared in disbelief at the price tag on the orchids. She fumbled the change and crumpled notes in her pocket.

She hopped from one foot to the other and chewed on her lip. She could feel the glare of the florist on the back of her neck and her head was pounding from the overpowering stench of compost and flowers.

_Why do they have to be so bloody expensive?!_

Just as she was beginning to consider whether or not she’d be able to fit one of the flowers up her top, her phone vibrated.

Asami had texted her to say that her lecture had finished early. Apparently her professor had passed out after trying to hang upside-down for the entire lecture.

Korra had thought she’d have nearly an hour to find something for Asami but now …

She groaned internally and tore herself away from the shelf of orchids and scanned the rest of the shop in a panic.

“Gotta find something quickly!” Korra mumbled to herself. “Roses! Roses are romantic. And I know Asami likes red.”

“Huh?” the florist grunted.

“Oh, no … I … I … just thinking out loud,” Korra stammered. “How many roses can I get for … thirteen dollars and …. sixty five cents?” she asked fishing through her pockets and ignoring the florist rolling her eyes.

Korra watched impatiently as the roses were wrapped in shiny paper and a scarlet ribbon was tied agonisingly slowly around them. She snatched them out of the florist’s hands, practically threw the money at her, and dropped half her change under the counter.

She ran all the way to Asami’s building but stopped suddenly at the door, her finger hovering over the buzzer.

_Crap. What am I supposed to say?_

“’I saw these flowers and thought of you because they’re pretty and’ … Wait. Is that from _Shrek_?!” Korra chewed on her thumbnail and thumped her head against the wall.

Suddenly everything she’d planned seemed so childish and pathetic.

“Ugh, this is so stupid!” she snarled at the roses clenched in her hand.

_Fuck it!_

She scrunched the bouquet in her fist and threw it across the street.

Her heart racing, Korra pushed the buzzer and the door unlocked with an electronic clunk and Asami’s voice rang out over the intercom.

 _Damn it, Korra. Why do you have to be such a wuss! s_ he thought as she ran up the stairs to Asami's flat, rubbing the pen off the back of her hand as she went.

Four episodes of _House of Cards_ later, Korra and Asami were huddled together under Asami’s duvets, her laptop balanced on their knees.

Korra had no idea what Kevin Spacey was droning on about and instead focused on scraping the last of the Nutella out of the jar she’d swiped from Asami’s kitchen.

She nudged Asami and when she turned to look at her, Korra licked the spoon seductively.

Asami laughed and Korra noticed her cheeks turning pink.

“You’ve got a bit …” Asami began. She licked her finger, wiped Korra’s cheek, and sucked her finger clean. This time it was Korra’s turn to blush.

_Aaaaaand, I’m gonna need new panties._

There was so much she wanted to say, so much she wanted to admit to Asami. How she’d wanted to kiss her since she first saw her and how over the weeks they’d been friends she’d slowly grown to love her and how she thought she was the most beautiful person she’d ever met.

But instead Korra leant her head on Asami’s shoulder and closed her eyes.

“Nerd,” Korra whispered.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Christmas holiday is looming and Asami is absolutely desperate to ask out Korra. But when are things ever so simple?

_It’s taunting me._

Asami glared at her laptop and the blank Word document she’d opened only god knew how many hours ago.

_It’s fucking mocking me!_

She took off her glasses and rubbed her tired eyes.

Asami had been at the library all night trying to get this damn essay written but so far all she’d managed to do was watch hours and hours of cat videos on YouTube and give herself a headache. She hated working at the library. Usually, she’d do all her coursework in her room with a steady supply of coffee and British pop music. But unfortunately for Asami, Bolin and Opal’s budding relationship had been going unexpectedly well. Asami now knew how Bolin must have felt when Korra had traumatised him all those weeks ago.

Today was her last day of lectures before the Christmas holiday and she’d wanted to get all her work done and out of the way before then.

But for some reason she just couldn’t concentrate.

Well, that wasn’t entirely true. She knew exactly why she couldn’t focus on her essay.

Her stupid crush on Korra had gotten to the point of ridiculousness. Asami wasn’t even sure if you could call it a crush anymore.

Nearly every day for weeks now, Asami had found herself on the point of confessing her … _feelings_ for Korra. But every time she’d psyched herself up – wrestled with her fears and found the words to express her emotions – something had gone wrong. Either they were interrupted or the moment felt wrong or Asami just couldn’t get the words out. More times than she was proud of, she’d even resorted to writing texts telling Korra how she felt. They were cheesy and desperate and pathetic and she’d ended up deleting them every single time.

Last week she’d been so hyped up on coffee and energy drinks while cramming for an exam that she’d forgotten how scared she was and asked Korra out to a movie. Asami had nearly passed out when Korra said yes. They’d gone to a crappy horror movie and Korra had spent the entire time clinging to Asami’s arm and screaming every time anything moved. She’d spilt popcorn everywhere when the monster appeared at the beginning of the film.

Just the thought of Korra scaring herself silly made Asami smile.

After the movie, Asami had wanted nothing more than to pull Korra into her arms and kiss her in the rain as the sun set.

But it hadn’t rained that night and Asami hadn’t made her move.

It seemed like every time she thought of a reason to confess everything to Korra, she’d think of five more reasons not to. At first, the fact that Asami was supposed to be mentoring Korra had held her back. But the more time they’d ended up spending together, the less time they’d actually spent studying until they didn’t even bother pretending that she was mentoring Korra. Asami was definitely still afraid that their friendship would suffer if she admitted to harbouring romantic feelings for Korra but as time went by, she became more and more convinced that it was her own insecurities holding her back and nothing to do with Korra.

Asami chewed on her pen, staring at her laptop angrily. All she could think about was Korra. And not always fully clothed. She sighed, put on her headphones, and closed her eyes as David Bowie began to play. Asami turned the volume up as far as she could and closed her laptop.

Tapping her fingernails on the desk in time to the music, Asami yawned wearily. She shoved aside the musty old books she’d been reading and slumped forwards, banging her forehead repeatedly on the desk.

_Goddammit Asami. Get your shit together._

Asami forced herself to sit up and groaned horribly as her hair fell down over her face. She sighed and looked miserably at the graffiti that covered the desk. She counted at least five penises scratched into the wood and rolled her eyes.

She opened up her laptop again, put her glasses back on and cracked her knuckles.

_I am gonna write the shit outta this essay!_

Asami’s fingers hovered over the keyboard, poised and ready to begin typing. But she couldn’t think of a single thing to write.

She groaned again so loudly that she could hear the other students shushing her even with her headphones on full volume.

Twirling her chewed up pen in her fingers, Asami opened up one of the worm-eaten old books at a random page. She started reading and tried not to think about Korra. She tried not to think about Korra with bed hair and a sleepy smile. She desperately tried not to think about Korra blushing and chewing her lip nervously. And she definitely didn’t want to picture Korra in a sports bra, sweating and panting heavily.

She tried not to think about Korra but failed.

Failed _miserably_.

In fact, she was so caught up in her imagination that she almost wet herself in shock when her headphones were whipped away and a pair of strong arms wrapped around her shoulders.

“You’ve been working too hard,” a sultry voice whispered in her ear.

“ _Mmm_.” Asami melted into Korra’s embrace and smiled.

“Have you been here all night?” Korra asked.

“Yeah,” Asami said sleepily, relishing the feel of Korra’s hair tickling her cheek.

“Time for you to have a break, I think.” Without taking her arm from around Asami’s shoulders, Korra pushed Asami’s laptop away and put a tall take-out cup of coffee on the desk. Asami grasped at it eagerly. “I got you a gingerbread cappuccino with extra whipped cream. I, umm … I ate the little gingerbread person that came with it though.”

Asami thanked her and took a sip of coffee. Korra chuckled as Asami’s glasses began to steam up. The coffee cup was one those hideous Christmas ones they churned out every year. Korra had gotten Asami the Santa one. She wondered whether it was because Korra knew red was her favourite colour.

Korra unwrapped her arms from around Asami and sat down on the desk next to hers.

“I must look a mess,” Asami whispered, brushing the hair out of her face with her fingers.

“Nah,” Korra said quietly, grinning. “Y-you … you look great.”

_Well you look fricking amazing!_

“This essay is gonna be the death of me!” Asami groaned, hiding her smile behind her coffee cup. “I’m gonna fail everything. Maybe I could be a stripper.”

“Why don’t you just leave it until after Christmas?” Korra asked.

“I wanted to get it done as soon as possible so I could just sleep and watch cartoons for the whole holiday!” Asami said, prying the plastic lid off the coffee.

Smirking devilishly, Asami dipped her finger into the cream and licked her finger. She looked up at Korra with her best attempt at bedroom eyes but Korra was too busy flicking through Asami’s textbooks to notice.

_Fuck’s sake, Korra! Look at me when I’m trying to flirt with you!_

Embarrassed by her futile attempt at seducing Korra, Asami took a large gulp of her coffee and winced as it scorched her tongue.

“You going back home for Christmas?” Korra asked, throwing the book aside.

“No, umm, things aren’t great at home,” Asami said.

_And that’s a big fucking understatement._

Things were very far from great at home. Asami hadn’t been speaking to her dad for weeks now and had absolutely no intention of spending even part of the holiday with him.

“Ah …” Korra cocked her head to one side and nudged Asami’s shin with her foot. “You gonna be okay on your own for a whole month?” Asami was glad that Korra didn’t pressure her for the details and the evident concern in Korra’s voice was really quite touching.

“Well, I was thinking … hoping … that maybe we could, I dunno …” _Go on a date_ “… hang out a bit over the holiday?” Asami said as she played with a loose thread on her jumper. Korra had bought her the jumper as an early Christmas present. It was three sizes too big, itchy, and covered in garishly coloured reindeer and mistletoe. Asami loved it. She’d worn it in bed almost every day since Korra gave it to her though she’d never admit that to anyone.

“I’m going back home tomorrow,” Korra said apologetically. “I won’t be around until term starts back up again in January.”

_Of course she’s going back home, you doof! Not everyone has as dysfunctional a family as you do!_

“Oh, well have fun!” Asami said, trying hard to hide her disappointment and to sound sincere. “Say hi to your family for me.”

Korra just smiled her crooked smile.

Asami wondered whether she’d told her parents about her. Asami had told her dad all about Korra but then that was half of the reason why she wasn’t talking to him anymore. ‘It’s just a phase,’ he’d told her in that obnoxious tone of voice he always used, ‘you’ll meet the right man sooner or later.’

Asami didn’t want to think about her dad.

“You sure you’re feeling okay?” Korra asked, leaning forward and pressing her hand over Asami’s forehead.

“I’m _fine_!” Asami laughed as she pulled Korra’s hand away.

Korra narrowed her eyes at her, unconvinced.

“Come on,” Korra said resolutely, slamming Asami’s laptop shut. “We’re getting you some fresh air.” Korra picked up one of the chocolate bar wrappers that were scattered across the desk, sneering her nose up at it. “… and something to eat that’s not going to fossilise your heart!”

Asami rolled her eyes exaggeratedly when Korra shoved her laptop into her hands and grabbed her by the wrist. Heads started to turn as Korra dragged her through the library. Clutching her laptop to her chest and trying desperately not to spill her coffee, Asami tried to cover her face with her hand to hide the blush that was rising to her cheeks and ignore the stares and stifled giggles that followed them through the library.

Asami’s eyes roamed hungrily over Korra’s muscular back. Before she knew what she was doing, Asami had twisted free of Korra’s grasp and pulled her into the shadows behind a dusty bookcase.

Korra yelped in surprise and stumbled forward into Asami, accidentally pinning her to the shelf.

“Asami …?” Korra whispered, looking up at her and turning bright red.

The spines of the mildewed books on the shelves behind Asami were digging into her back, hot coffee was dribbling over her fingers, and Korra was standing on her foot. But there was barely an inch separating their bodies and Asami could feel the warmth of Korra’s breath on her cheek.

The light above them was broken and cast them in a twilight glow. The moment was almost perfect.

_Kiss her you fucking loser!_

Asami leant forward, the hand that wasn’t grasping her laptop and coffee hovered over the curve of Korra’s back.

_Kiss her!_

“Korra, I … uh …” Asami murmured, “… I have to pee!”

_Damn it!_

“Oh … umm … okay.” Korra didn’t move. She just looked up at Asami, her lashes fluttering and her lips parted slightly. Asami thought she could feel Korra’s heart thumping through her chest.

“I mean … like really badly,” Asami whispered, crossing her legs and sucking air in through her clenched teeth.

“Oh, sorry!” Korra mumbled, jumping backwards and nearly tripping over her laces.

While Korra waited outside with her bag, Asami sat on the toilet dragging her fingers through her hair and muttering angrily to herself.

“Dammit Asami! You fucked it up again! ‘I gotta pee’? Seriously? Ugh!”

When she’d finished chastising herself, Asami flushed the toilet and turned on the drier so that Korra wouldn’t suspect anything.

“Think fast!” Korra laughed, throwing an apple at Asami as she emerged from the ladies’ bathroom. “Sorry, I figured we probably wouldn’t have enough time to get you something proper to eat before your lecture and that’s all I’ve got on me.”

“You really carry fruit around with you everywhere?” Asami asked, taking a tentative bite out of the apple. “You health nut!”

“You’re welcome.”

Asami shrugged her coat on and wiped a trickle of juice off her chin with the back of her hand. She checked the time on her phone and groaned.

“Ugh, my lecture’s starting soon. I’ll see you later, Korra.”

“Actually,” Korra said, rubbing the back of her neck, “I was planning on crashing your lecture. If that’s okay!”

“You hiding from Tenzin again?” Asami laughed, arching her eyebrows and nibbling at the apple.

Tenzin had been trying all week to get Korra to start doing yoga and to practice meditating. Asami wasn’t entirely sure what he was hoping to achieve but whatever his goals were, Korra was very far from enthusiastic about the additions to her training regime. Over the course of the week Korra had found more places to hide than Asami had thought was possible on such a small campus.

But now, after an entire week of avoiding Tenzin, Korra was starting to run out of hiding places.

Secretly, Asami was rather pleased that she’d be able to spend a little extra time with Korra before she went back home to see her parents. Plus, Asami reasoned, she’d be far less likely to embarrass herself in front of Korra when she was focusing on the lecture.

But focusing on the lecture was a little harder than she’d predicted.

When they got there, Korra ignored Asami’s protests and tugged her to the very back tier of seats.

“You got any comics?” Korra whispered as the lecture began. “Come on, I know you have!”

Asami prayed to the heavens to give her strength and fished through her backpack. She handed Korra a handful of _X-Men_ comics and her iPod.

Korra stretched herself out on the empty seats next to them and laid her head in Asami’s lap.

_Oh my god. Don’t freak out, it’s not a big deal._

Asami took a deep breath and tried to follow what her professor was yelling excitedly about.

_Shit! I really should have pissed when I had the chance._

She ground her bottom lip between her teeth and tried not to think about Korra’s hair spilling like silk over her legs. Asami tried to ignore the warmth of Korra against her body and she had no idea what to do with her hands. No matter where she put them it felt wrong.

Throughout the lecture, she stole subtle glances down at Korra’s face in her lap. Her eyes traced the curve of her lips and the contours of her cheeks. She almost gave in to the need to cradle Korra’s face in her hands but ended up clasping them together on her laptop.

Asami stared at Varrick’s bristling moustache and tried taking as many notes as she could but it was no use. He was talking so quickly that when her mind drifted for even a second she ended up completely losing track of what he was talking about.

Korra started humming quietly to herself and tapping her foot softly on one of the seats. That was when Asami gave up any hope of paying attention to the lecture.

She was listening to _I’m Afraid of Americans_ again. That song had been stuck in Korra’s head ever since their night of drinking together all those weeks ago. It had driven Korra mad at first but Asami was glad to see she’d finally embraced it.

_There’s no fighting Bowie!_

Asami closed her eyes and lent her elbows on the folding desk that was attached to her seat.

She promised herself that after the lecture she’d tell Korra exactly what she felt for her.

By the time Varrick collapsed over his podium, exhausted after an hour of frenzied raving, Asami had decided that actually she’d tell Korra _after_ the holiday.

*

Asami woke up with an almost inhuman groan.

She opened her eyes slowly, painfully. The feeble grey light of yet another overcast December morning was streaming weakly through the half-drawn curtains. Or was it the afternoon?

Her phone was on her nightstand and she reached out for it. She could barely lift her hand and let it fall back onto the duvet pathetically. Asami whined and rolled over, burying her face in the pillows that were scattered across her bed.

The last three days (or maybe four … surely not five?) were a vague blur of Netflix, ice cream, masturbating, and self-pity.

After the lecture on the last day of the semester, Asami had agreed to help Korra pack. The whole time she’d been folding Korra’s clothes and stuffing them into her suitcase, Asami had been on the verge of telling Korra just how much she liked her. But as usual she couldn’t bring herself to do it.

Asami groaned in frustration at the memory of it.

As soon as she’d gotten back to her flat, she’d wrapped herself in a cocoon of blankets and drowned her anger at herself in ice cream and cartoons.

The binge had lasted a lot longer than she’d intended.

Asami sat up and stretched, whimpering in pain when she felt something crack in her neck. She sniffed her t-shirt and decided she probably should’ve taken a shower yesterday. And changed her clothes. And eaten something other than ice cream. And asked Korra out on a date.

She groaned and flopped back on the bed. The thought of getting out of bed was horrible.

_That’s it. I’m never leaving my bed. I’m going to live here forever. This is my home now._

Bolin had gone to visit his grandma for Christmas so for the first time in a very long time Asami wasn’t being subjected to the squeaks of bedsprings. She blew her hair out of her face and lay there savouring the silence.

She wondered whether Korra had texted.

She felt like she was emerging from a coma when she finally dragged herself out of bed.

Asami stood up woozily, yawned, and scrabbled through the mess on her nightstand for her glasses. The orchid Korra had bought her needed watering.

_Why am I only wearing one sock?_

When she found her phone she saw there were four missed calls from her dad. Asami growled and threw her phone onto the bed.

Korra hadn’t called or texted.

She picked her way carefully between the mounds of junk and laundry that littered her floor and shuffled into the bathroom. She looked at herself in the mirror, ran a hand through her tangle of messy hair and sighed.

_You are such a mess._

Asami was just about to clamber into the shower when a knock on the door startled her half to death.

She heard a strange scratching sound and someone laughing as she opened the door.

“Naga! Kill!”

Asami screamed as a flurry of white fur rushed at her, knocking her off her feet.

Something heavy was pressing on her chest. She opened her eyes tentatively to see a huge, white dog staring down at her, its tongue lolling out of its mouth and drool dribbling onto her face.

Naga licked Asami’s face, her hot dog-breath making her gag. Asami tried to push Naga off but the huge dog refused to budge.

Korra was in the doorway, bent double from laughing so much.

“Hey, babe!” she managed to gasp. “You okay down there?”

Asami would have grabbed Korra’s face and kissed her right there and then if she hadn’t been pinned to the floor by a couple of tonnes of slobbering dog.

“Korra, you ignorant slut!” she yelled, as the air was crushed out of her lungs and Naga continued to lick her face. “Don’t just … stand there! Get … get her … off!”

Korra shooed Naga off Asami and helped her up. Asami was suddenly conscious of the fact that she wasn’t wearing anything except a dirty t-shirt, panties, and a sock. She pulled her top down over her underwear and blushed.

“Wow,” Korra murmured, looking shyly at Asami.

“What?” Asami asked, looking around desperately for some jeans or leggings or a skirt or anything.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you without makeup,” Korra said, sitting down next to Naga who had made herself at home on Asami’s bed. “You … you look gorgeous.”

“I do not!” Asami said, as her cheeks started burning. “I look a mess!”

“Yeah, a hot mess,” Korra laughed.

Asami didn’t know what else to say so she just flung herself at Korra, wrapping her arms around her neck and almost sending her sprawling on the bed. She buried her face in Korra’s hair. She smelt like lemongrass and vanilla.

“What are you doing here?!” Asami asked excitedly, trying to hold back the lump that was rising in her throat.

_I missed you so much!_

Asami refused to let go and only squeezed Korra harder. She felt Korra’s hand slide down to the small of her back and smiled.

“I couldn’t stand the thought of you on your own for the entire holiday,” Korra explained. Naga had squeezed her head in between Korra and Asami, clearly jealous of being left out of the hug. Korra disentangled Asami from around her neck, laughing. “So, yeah, I told my parents that I had a tonne of coursework to do. Which I technically wasn’t lying about but we both know that I’m not gonna do it.”

“That’s true!” Asami laughed, sitting down next to Naga and scratching her behind the ear.

“Anyway, we rearranged some stuff and my parents have come down to the city for a week or two. They’re staying at a hotel on the edge of town. And they brought this lump of lard with them!” Korra said, tickling Naga. “I would have called you but _someone_ decided that my phone would make a good chew toy!”

Naga hung her head in shame.

“I am so glad to see you!” Asami said, fighting the urge to squeeze the life out of Korra again.

“Mum and Dad have been dragging me round museums for days since they arrived,” Korra said, clearing away some of the rubbish that had accumulated on Asami’s bed, “but they’re visiting some friends today so Naga and I managed to escape and make sure you hadn’t plunged into another Netflix and ice cream iduced coma.”

“You needn’t have worried!” Asami lied. “How did you even manage to get Naga past the guys at reception?”

“Hid her up my top,” Korra said trying to look as serious as possible.

“So what do you wanna do?” Asami asked, rubbing the huge dog’s belly. “We could watch something? We could have a makeover? I think there’s some beer in the fridge…”

Korra looked at her through narrowed eyes and shook her head menacingly.

“Uh-uh! Don’t even think about it!” she said pushing Asami onto her feet. “You’re gonna shower, brush your teeth, and get dressed. Then we’re gonna get you caffeinated and you’re gonna get some fresh air!”

“Is this really necessary, Korra?” Asami laughed as Korra shoved her into the bathroom.

“You haven’t been outside for days, have you, Asami?!” Korra’s voice rung out through the bathroom door. “Or eaten anything healthy or showered or…”

“Okay, okay!” Asami groaned as she peeled off her clothes and turned on the shower. “I get the idea. _Mum_!”

After Asami had showered and changed her clothes, she and Korra went out for coffee. It was absolutely freezing outside and the shock of bitterly cold air took Asami’s breath away when they stepped outside. She should have known it would be unbearably cold because Korra had actually been wearing sleeves for once.

They found a little table in the corner of the coffee shop and threw Naga little pieces of their croissants while they chatted. Korra was telling Asami all the embarrassing things her parents had been doing over the past few days when Asami kicked her shoes off and ran her foot up Korra’s calf making her choke on her hot chocolate.

“I ... I was … I was thinking we should … go for a walk along ‘The River’,” Korra spluttered, the blood rising in her cheeks as Asami’s foot glided higher and higher up her leg.

“Sure, sounds great,” Asami said, smiling as Korra turned redder and redder.

 _She is so cute when she’s blushing_! Asami thought. She almost felt bad for tormenting Korra like this but it was getting harder to resist flirting with her.

What the students of Republic City College called ‘The River’ was in actual fact little more than a large ditch that ran behind the campus and between the back gardens of the neighbouring houses. Beautiful wild flowers, songbirds, and waterfowl made their home there in the spring and in the summer students would lounge around on the grassy banks, sunbathing, making out and smoking. In the winter ‘The River’ was little more than a trickle of mud with the odd tuft of brown grass breaking through the frost. As the weather had gotten colder, a film of ice had formed, turning the usually green water a strange milky-grey colour.

Apart from a few ducks, Korra and Asami had ‘The River’ completely to themselves.

As they walked, Asami kept glancing at Korra. The freezing wind had made Korra’s cheeks turn red and she kept brushing the hair out of her eyes. Korra caught her looking and Asami whipped her head around pretending to look at Naga splashing in the puddles along the footpath.

She gasped in surprise as Korra linked her arm through hers and pulled her closer, their shoulders rubbing as they walked.

_Don’t panic, Asami. Just act natural and don’t embarrass yourself. Whatever you do … Don’t. Kiss. Her!_

Asami chewed on her frozen lip and thought about how cold her ears were.

“So, umm, this is kinda stupid,” Korra said, zipping her coat up over her mouth, “but Mum and Dad wanted to know if you’d like to have lunch with us tomorrow. It doesn’t have to be lunch. I told them you’d probably be busy and…”

“I’d love to!” Asami smiled, slipping her fingers through Korra’s and squeezing her hand.

Korra sighed in relief and squeezed her hand back.

_This is fine. This is perfectly normal. Everyone holds hands. And has lunch with the parents. No big deal._

“I think they’re trying to set us … up …” Korra said, trailing off as she realised what she was saying.

“Oh?!” Asami said, teasingly. “You been telling them all about me, have you? What did you tell them about me? I hope you mentioned how great my butt is!”

“Oh shut up!” Korra laughed, ramming her shoulder into Asami. “I thought with Bolin and the others home for the holiday, I’d have a break from the constant teasing. I dunno why everyone thinks I fancy you. It’s ridiculous, right?”

“Yeah,” Asami laughed awkwardly, “ridiculous.”

They both went a bit quiet for a while after that. Asami fixed her gaze up at the iron-grey clouds that were rolling across the sky and gnawed the inside of her cheek.

After a few minutes of self-conscious silence, Korra stopped walking and squeezed Asami’s hand.

“You don’t have a Christmas tree in your flat, do you?” she asked, smiling up at Asami.

“Umm, no. Why?”

“Stay here!” Korra said pressing Naga’s lead into Asami’s hands.

“Wait … what are you …?” Asami stuttered as Korra heaved herself up over a garden fence and vanished over the other side after shooting a crooked grin at Asami.

Naga sat down at Asami’s feet and looked up at her, cocking her head to one side.

“Your mum’s crazy!” Asami whispered to Naga, tickling her under the chin.

Asami blew on her hands and stamped her feet wondering what the hell Korra was up to.

She heard the sound of splintering wood and Korra’s muttered swearing from the other side of the fence.

“Look out!” Korra shouted as a huge branch flew over the fence and landed at Asami’s feet.

“What the hell is this?!” Asami asked as Korra clambered back over the fence.

“A Christmas tree!” Korra said, beaming at Asami.

“That’s just the top half of a conifer _that you stole from someone’s garden_!” Asami said confusedly as Korra picked it up off the ground and brushed off the mud.

“Well you’ve only got a small flat,” Korra shrugged. “And I’m strong but I’m not strong enough to uproot an entire tree! You’re so demanding, Asami!”

Asami rolled her eyes and laughed.

The cold was starting to get really unbearable. Korra slung the makeshift Christmas tree over her shoulder, took Naga’s lead back from Asami, and they slowly made their way back to the flat.

Asami slipped her arm around Korra’s waist but tried to act casual about it. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Korra look up at her and smile but Asami set her jaw and pretended to be checking her phone.

“So,” Korra said, “what do you think? We could get some tinsel or fairy lights or something and stick it in the corner of your room.”

“Mm-hmm,” Asami mumbled, still looking at her phone.

_Seriously Asami?! Playing hard to get? After Korra just committed a felony for you?_

Asami stopped walking, put her phone back in her coat pocket and ran her hand up Korra’s back.

“Thanks for all this,” Asami said, all too conscious of how close they were standing. “If it weren’t for you, I’d probably have spent the entire holiday alone in my room like Miss Havisham.”

“From _Great Expectations_!” Korra said excitedly. “I’ve actually read that!”

“I know!” Asami laughed. “I had to bribe you with cookies to get you to write your mid-term paper on it!”

They both laughed as their frozen breath mingled like smoke in the air.

“Asami…” Korra murmured, looking up at her through her lashes.

She had no idea what Korra was going to say because at that moment, Naga jerked on her lead and Korra toppled backwards. Asami reached out to grab her but it was too late. Screeching and flailing her arms, Korra slipped in the mud and tumbled into the ditch with a splash and a crack of shattering ice.

Asami clasped her hands over her mouth and looked in shock at Korra. She was sitting waist deep in murky water, covered from head to toe in mud, and her sodden hair plastered over her eyes.

“Oh my god! Korra, are you okay!” Asami cried, scrambling down the slippery bank.

She grabbed Korra’s hand and heaved her out of the muddy water. When they were both back on the path, Asami draped her coat over Korra’s trembling shoulders and pulled her into a hug and rubbed her back tenderly.

Naga followed then back to Asami’s flat with her tail between her legs.

Back at her flat and after Asami had made Korra take a hot shower, they sat in bed wrapped in duvets and blankets. Korra was in clean underwear and an oversized jumper Asami had lent her and was sipping on a steaming mug of tea. Asami pulled the blankets tighter around them and stroked Korra’s hair soothingly.

“You feeling better?” Asami whispered.

Korra just hummed happily.

Naga poked her head up onto the mattress and looked at them with big watery eyes.

“No!” Asami growled. “Bad girl! You don’t deserve to be on the bed!”

The chunk of tree that Korra had broken off for her was propped up on the nightstand next to Asami’s orchid. Asami hadn’t found any decorations for the tree so she’d draped Korra’s drenched socks and underwear over the branches.

“You wanna watch something?” Asami asked, reaching for her laptop.

“ _Powerpuff Girls,_ ” Korra mumbled sleepily between slurps of tea.

They watched _Powerpuff Girls_ , wrapped in blankets and each other’s arms until night began to fall. Asami’s eyelids were growing heavy and Korra, leaning her head on Asami’s shoulder, had already started snoring. Being careful not to wake Korra, Asami slid out of bed, stepped over Naga who was sleeping on a pile of laundry, and tiptoed across the room to draw the curtains.

“Korra!” she shouted when she got to the window. “Korra! It’s snowing!”

Korra sat up and rubbed her eyes.

“Huh?”

“It’s snowing!” Asami said, pulling her out of bed. She grabbed her boots and whipped Korra’s jeans off the radiator. “Come on!”

Asami made sure that Korra was bundled up in several layers and tied a scarf tightly around her neck before running down the stairs, Naga bounding along at their heels.

They crashed through the main doors and out into the car park. The snow was falling in huge, wet flakes that seemed to glow like molten amber in the light of the street lamps. Asami puffed out a billowing cloud of glistening breath and smiled up at the sky.

The tarmac was turning whiter and whiter by the second. Naga leapt around, snapping at the falling flakes excitedly. Asami bent down, scooped up a handful of powdery snow, and dumped it over Korra’s head.

“You bitch!” Korra laughed, sounding alive for the first time since her impromptu dip that afternoon.

Soon they were both covered in snow and frozen to the marrow. They stood side by side watching the snow floating gently around them.

Korra’s hand brushed against Asami’s making her heart soar.

“Asami …” Korra said barely above a whisper.

“Yeah?” Asami whispered back.

Korra hopped from one foot to the other and chewed on her lip.

“I … I wanted to tell you …” Korra said, looking intently at her feet and tracing patterns in the snow with her shoe. “It’s stupid but … would you …?”

Asami reached out for Korra’s hand and held it firmly.

“Korra?”

Korra looked up at her shyly.

“I … Can I …” she mumbled, shuffling her feet nervously.

Asami smiled at her reassuringly.

“Yeah?”

“Can I kiss you?” Korra said, the words finally tumbling out.

_God yes!_

“Sure.”

Korra edged closer and reached up a tentative hand to Asami’s cheek.

The kiss was quick and awkward but Asami felt giddy with happiness all the same.

She couldn’t help running her tongue over her lips as if to savour the taste of Korra on them.

Asami opened her eyes and smiled down at Korra.

“Korra? Are you crying?”

“No!” Korra sniffed, wiping her nose on the back of her hand. “Sorry … I’ve … I’ve wanted to do that for a _really_ long time.” She laughed as tears trickled down her cheeks.

Asami fought back tears of her own and smiled at the blubbering idiot who’d stolen her heart.

“So have I.” she murmured.

Korra smiled her crooked grin and wiped her eyes.

_What are you waiting for you idiot?!_

Korra gasped in surprise as Asami yanked her by the scarf and kissed her. Asami said everything she’d been dying to say with that kiss. Korra got over her surprise quickly and melted into Asami’s kiss. She trailed her hands down Asami’s back and clutched at the fabric of her coat. Asami ran her fingers through Korra’s hair, completely and utterly lost in the kiss.

They broke the kiss reluctantly and stared at each other eagerly, their foggy breath mixing and their bodies pressed together.

Asami bit her lip and smiled stupidly.

“Well that … that was …” Asami said, fighting back nervous laughter.

Korra shut her up by planting a tender little peck on Asami’s lips and smiled up at her.

“Do you wanna …?”

“Yes!”

They called Naga to heel and climbed the stairs hand in hand. Even in the gloom of the stairwell they couldn’t take their eyes off each other.

By the time they were back in Asami’s flat, they were kissing again. Their hands roamed eagerly over each other before they’d even unlocked the door to Asami’s bedroom. They fell through the doorway and Asami gasped as Korra’s warm lips left a burning trail down her neck.

They turned out the lights and slammed the door shut, thankful that everyone else had gone home for Christmas.


End file.
